So you’re selling your house. Congratulations! But, uh, what are you going to do about that kitchen? You know, the one you’ve been saying for years you wanted to renovate but never got around to? The thing is, you’re not going to have as many prospective buyers with an eyesore like that.

Here are four common mistakes people make when making do-it-yourself upgrades to the kitchen, and how to avoid them:

1. Not measuring correctly

When it comes to refinishing your cabinets, it’s important to measure everything correctly. Sure, that’s a lot easier said than done. You may think that you’ve measured everything correctly, so why go back and check your work? You were so thorough the first time.

You have to go back and check because you’re human. You may have thoroughly measured everything in centimeters but wrote down “inches” in your notes. That’s a big difference that could lead to costly consequences.

2. Picking out the wrong appliances

Your appliances are sort of the reason you go to the kitchen and not, say, literally any other room in the house. They’re essentially the centerpieces of the space. Before you change the color scheme of your backsplash, your countertops or both, think about what kind of appliances you’re getting. All black, all white or stainless steel?

Every color combination is going to look OK no matter what, but the different contrasts can definitely create different ambiances. Black appliances and white countertops say clean but plain, while white appliances and bold red backsplashes might say modern and chic.

3. Choosing cheap materials

You can fall victim pretty easily to choosing cheap materials if you’re just looking to give your kitchen a cosmetic makeover. Sure, it’s going to look nice, but adding all those cheap materials to your home interior could actually bring down your property value.

If your floors need to be replaced, don’t get linoleum to mask them. Actually replace them. Start with what needs to be done and worry about cosmetics later — if you can afford it.

4. Buying materials online

This is a sort of sequel to our previous point. People tend to buy materials online in order to cut costs when renovating the kitchen. But if you’re buying materials online — instead of materials that you’ve seen with your own eyes and touched with your own hands — then you might be in for a big surprise when your order comes in.

It’s possible that you could underestimate the order amount — paying for one set of wood planks instead of enough planks to actually cover your floor — or you could end up with something that looks good in a professional picture but looks even worse than what’s currently in your kitchen.

If you need any other remodeling advice before making the big sale, give us a call.